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“We’re in the awkward teenage years of technology.”

From the editors of MAKE magazine, the Maker Pro Newsletter is about the impact of makers on business and technology. Our coverage includes hardware startups, new products, incubators, and innovators, along with technology and market trends.

News

FOXCONN COMMITS TO MAKER MOVEMENT

Last week, at Maker Faire Shenzhen, global manufacturing giant Foxconn announced that it has set up a business unit for makers.

MAKE publisher Dale Dougherty (@dalepd), who was in Shenzhen for the event, reported that Foxconn’s Vincent Tong said that the company hopes to play an active role in the maker community.

“We have only talked to brands, not makers,” the Foxconn representative said. “Now we work with makers.”

Foxconn’s announcement was presaged by their sponsorship of Maker Faire Shenzhen, which had the theme, “Innovate with China.”

Said Dale, “My bet is that Chinese manufacturers will engage the global maker movement more fully than American manufacturers.”

Silvia Lindtner (@yunnia), who spends a lot of time in China, has a similar point of view. In a recent article, she argued that Shenzhen now displays an open manufacturing culture that is “aligned with the open-source spirit of the global maker movement.”

RASPBERRY PI TO LAUNCH SMALLER BOARD FOR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced a new, much smaller, Compute Module, for business and industrial uses.

According to the Endeavour study, one-third of American consumers who have owned a wearable product stopped using it within six months. Of the one in 10 American adults who own some form of activity tracker, half of them no longer use it.

Analyst Michael Wolf (@michaelwolf) challenged the basis of Arthur’s column, declaring confidently that the wearable market will ultimately be bigger than the tablet market.

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

Flexible electronics will revolutionize everything, according to GigaOm.

Samsung researchers are claiming a graphene breakthrough that could “unlock the next era of consumer technology.”

And because it’s open source you can read all about it, as much as you want. You can even pull back the focus and see how it fits into Bunnie’s vision of open source hardware and the future of embedded systems.

That kind of openness is coming to phones as well, with Google’s Project Ara, which just posted a video update on the project, which seems to be pretty far along.

3D Printing Industry Update

There’s too much 3D printing industry news piling up to ignore. So let’s catch up with some of the big players.

Stratasys has purchased three companies in the last few weeks: first Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts, which will expand Stratasys’ additive manufacturing services business; then a few days later Interfacial Solutions, which adds research and development in plastics and filament.

Solid Concepts recently 3D printed a legal, metal gun, not as a political statement, but to prove the viability of 3D printing for demanding commercial applications.

Events

Maker Faire Bay Area

The 9th annual Maker Faire Bay Area, our “home game” that started it all, is taking place May 17 and 18 at the San Mateo Fairgrounds.

MakerCon

Hey, Maker Pros — MAKE is hosting its first MakerCon, May 13–14, the week of Maker Faire Bay Area.

Over 70 speakers at the forefront of the maker movement will lead the dialogue at the premiere MakerCon, a two-day event for makers, by makers. Experts in digital manufacturing, tool and technology providers, accelerators and incubators, community leaders, and educators, discuss the significant and growing impact of making on education, business, and community. Join the conversation: register today!